Oakwood Friends School

Nine Partners School

In 1794, the New York Yearly Meeting appointed a committee of twenty-five to establish a school; their first meeting was on January 13, 1795. On May 1 of that year the New York Yearly Meeting purchased a house and ten acres from Joseph Mabbet, a Quaker from Connecticut, for 1600 pounds, a down payment of 214 pounds was made from the donors, Tripp Mosher, Isaac Thorn, William Thorn, Joseph Talcott, Shadrach Richetson and Jonathan Deuel. With plans of opening a school for the children of nearby Quaker families, it opened on December 20, 1796, and was given the name Nine Partners School in Mechanic, which is now in South Millbrook, New York. This was the state's first co-educational boarding and day school. The school's first superintendent was R. Tripp Mosher, and its first principal was Jonathan Talcott, a children's book publisher. The school had a total of one hundred students: 70 boys and 30 girls. The children were between the ages of seven and fourteen years old for girls, and up to age fifteen for boys.

A teacher at the school was Jacob Willets, one of the first pupils its opening day of the school. He became the head teacher in 1806 and taught until 1828. He was the author of an arithmetic text, a geography text and an atlas, textbooks which were highly recommended and extensively used throughout the academic day. His wife Deborah, also a former pupil, became a teacher of grammar and mathematics. They were head teachers together and contributed to the school's success during its early years.

Another teacher and former pupil was Lucretia Coffin Mott, who entered the school at age thirteen in 1806 and graduated in 1810. While there, she met teacher James Mott, son of one of the founders, whom she married in 1811. Lucretia later led abolition and women’s suffrage campaigns as well as working as a teaching assistant.

Around that same era, a notable student of the school was Daniel Anthony, who would one day become the father of Susan B. Anthony, another famed early pioneer of women's suffrage.

Friends Academy and Oakwood Seminary

In 1853, the school and its land was sold to a private party who kept it until 1863. In 1857 the New York Yearly Meeting was eager to open a boarding school in Union Springs in central New York. On September 1 of that year a property southwest of the town of Auburn was purchased for $9,842. The first day of classes was May 11, 1858, with grades 1–12, with only four boarders and twenty day students. At this time the school was officially known as Friends Academy. On March 23, 1876, the school officially changed its name to Oakwood Seminary, however the first unofficial reference to the school's name as Oakwood appears in 1863.

On January 2, 1917, a fire damaged the upper levels of the main building, prompting the Board of Managers to consider the school's future. It was decided that due to the fire damage, coupled with declining enrollment, that the school would relocate. In 1920, the school purchased the 75-acre Coleman Farm in Poughkeepsie, New York. The final graduation at Oakwood in Union Springs was held in June 1920. It was estimated that in its 62 years of existence in Union Springs the school saw over 3,500 students pass through its doors.

Oakwood School

Its first day of operation was on September 28, 1920, with a total of 112 students in grades 1–12. About 58 were Quaker. Although proper buildings were not ready on its opening day, the school was quickly reorganized to comply with the regulations of the state.

The large racehorse stables were converted into the main building, with the upper floors as the girls' dormitory. The stairs between the floors were yet to be built, with wooden ramps for the first months of school. The doors had no knobs. The meeting room, as it is now known, was called the Assembly Room, and was nearly completed in the first year of school in 1920, until it was released that the room violated a building code which caused them to drop the floor several inches, explaining why the windows are up so high. The Assembly Room was redone in 1965, renamed to the Meeting Room, and benches were constructed. It wasn't until 1994 that the Meeting Room was remodeled with carpet and laminate flooring.

In the summer of 1920 a two-story structure began to be built, but there were not funds to complete it, so they used two army barracks from the first world war and attached them to both sides of the preexisting building. This was described in a 1921 article in the Oakwood Bulletin: "As temporary quarters for boys, two army barracks have been secured and are to be joined to a permanent, bell-built center. This will contain boys' dormitories, apartments for teachers, and a large reading room for the boys, in addition to toilets, showers and lavatories." The two army barracks were transported to the campus by train from Massachusetts, the school having purchased them directly from the US Government.

The first building built during the school's operation was Lane Auditorium, begun in March 1923. It was announced that the building would be named for Aaron H. Lane, the president of the board of managers. The building was completed in the autumn of 1924 but the school could not afford both plumbing and electricity in the building at that time. The building last served as a gym in 1959 when it was converted into what was called the Fine Arts and Student Recreation Center. The name quickly changed back to the Aaron H. Lane Auditorium and was used only as a theater thereafter.

The campus began to grow in the coming years. In 1927 a faculty cottage was built on the north side of the dining hall, and it also served as the infirmary. In 1928 the Gulley House was purchased and renamed Henderson Cottage, which housed students. That same year the cottage later known as Craig Cottage was given to the school. In 1929 the boys' dormitory called "The Boys Barracks" was renovated and two wings replaced the old army barracks. The building could house 64 boys and all single male teachers. Also that year, the Wallace Dempster Williams Library was established, and opened in early 1930 in the Main Building. That year, cement pathways were constructed, and the school discontinued the front hay field to construct athletic fields.

Notable alumni

James Mott, abolitionist, attended 1804–1806

Lucretia Coffin Mott, abolitionist, attended 1806–1809

Abigail Mott Moore, abolitionist, attended 1807–1810

Richard Mott, mayor of Toledo, Ohio and state representative, attended 1815–1817

Julia Wilbur, abolitionist, suffergette and relief worker, attended 1829–1831

Elihu Anthony, abolitionist and founder of the city of Santa Cruz, California, attended 1832-1833

Jane Slocum, educator and lecturer, founder of the Idaho Industrial Institute, class of 1861

Eliza Maria Mosher, physician, educator, founder of the American Posture League, professor of physiology at Vassar College, class of 1862

Charles E. Courtney, professional rower and rowing captain at Cornell University 1883–1920, class of 1867

Mark Holub, class of 1999, jazz drummer, composer, bandleader and founder of Led Bib

Ethelwyn Wetherald, journalist and poet, class of 1875

George Aaron Barton, author and clergyman, class of 1879

Frank L. Young, New York State Assemblyman and a justice of the New York Supreme Court, class of 1882

Emma Willits, physician and surgeon, class of 1889

Notable faculty members

James Mott, anti-slavery activist, taught 1808–1811

Lindley Murray Moore, educator, abolitionist and principal at Haverford College, taught 1808–1812

Goold Brown, grammarian, taught 1811–1813

William J. Beal, teacher of natural sciences, botanist, professor of botany at Michigan Agricultural College, taught 1858–1861

Hannah Johnston Bailey, educator, pacifist, suffragette, taught 1867-1868

George Aaron Barton, author and clergyman, class of 1879, taught 1882–1885

Frank L. Young, New York State Assemblyman and a justice of the Supreme Court, class of 1882, taught 1886–1887

Rufus Jones, writer, philosopher, and social reformer, taught 1886–1887

Jonathan Clark Rogers, president of the University of Georgia 1949–1950, taught 1907–1911

Evelyn Edson, author & medievalist, taught world history and social studies 1962–1964

Jerilynn Prior, endocrinologist, school physician and taught biology 1972–1973

Heads of school

Tripp & Mary Mosher, 1796

Consider Merritt

Alexander and Phebe Brown, 1801–1802

Isaac and Ruth Hallock, 1802–1803

James Mott, 1806-1807

James Mott & Lydia Mott, 1807-1808

Adam & Lydia Mott, 1811-1814

Isaac & Anna Thorn, 1814-1816

David & Sarah Seaman, 1816-1818

Thomas & Phebe Willis, 1818-1820

Reuben & Phebe Howes, 1820-1821

Philip & Phebe Hoag, 1821-1824

Daniel & Mary Lawson, 1824-1826

Asa & Hannah Upton, 1826-1829

Charles & Betsey Hoag, 1829-1830

Philip & Phebe Hoag, 1830-1832

Joseph D. & Mrs. Hoag, 1832-1833

Benjamin and Mary Griffin, 1833–1842

Mary Griffin, 1842

Jarvis and Lydia Congdon, 1842–1849

Abraham & Phebe Wanzer, 1849-1851

Jarvis & Lydia Congdon, 1851-1853

Ezra and Jane Willets, 1858–1862